Editorial: Transit task force faces tough row

Jan. 7, 2013

The planned replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge — expected to be completed in 2018 — would have room for mass transit options. Plans to bring transit to the congested Interstate 287 corridor, though, is just beginning. A 28-member task force has been charged with coming up with ideas. / Source: New York Thruway Authority

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| A Journal News editorial

The Interstate 287 that spans Rockland and Westchester counties, with the Tappan Zee in between, is often congested, especially during rush hour (Here, westbound traffic is at a standstill in Harrison after a 2011 accident.) Few transit options exist for east-west commuters. / JOURNAL NEWS FILE PHOTO

The mission of the Mass Transit Task Force: develop short-, medium- and long-term recommendations for bringing transit options beyond a new bridge, to span the Interstate 287 corridor — and come up with ways to pay for those options. And do it in a year. The panel has met once, so far.

Many members expressed optimism after the inaugural Dec. 21 meeting, as well as a clear understanding of the complex road ahead. “While the tasks before the Task Force may first appear to be daunting, they are certainly not insurmountable,” Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef told the Editorial Board.

There’s been plenty of talk (a decade-plus worth, in fact) about improving east-west transit options in the northern suburbs, and little action. Whether the 28-member panel can change that remains to be seen.

Hurdles

Gov. Andrew Cuomo successfully moved the long-planned replacement of the overstressed, undersecure Tappan Zee forward in 2011, when he lopped off plans to bring mass transit to the entire Rockland-Westchester corridor.

That move proved successful — the project’s due to start construction this year; federal loans look promising; and the price tag has dropped to less than $4 billion, from a one-time high of $16 billion, for a full-corridor transit plan with all the bells and whistles of commuter rail, bus rapid transit and a new, dual-span crossing.

But the governor garnered plenty of criticism — and a potential roadblock from local county executives who threatened to stall the plan if mass transit wasn’t addressed. In July, Cuomo announced the transit task force’s formation and the Westchester, Rockland and Putnam executives pledged their support.

While mass transit appears back on track, the problems that mired transit planning last time still exist. The top one is money — the state has made it clear the panel has to come up with funding ideas, on top of addressing other thorny aspects of mass-transit planning. Other hurdles: local politics; protestations by residents who either wanted, or didn’t want, access to transit in their backyard; and the near-impossible chore of coordinating activities with various state agencies.

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Then there’s technical issues that come with trying to fit a transit system in a built-up region, especially in Westchester, and figuring out how to handle the topography of Rockland, posing challenges to trains and buses alike.

The rapid growth of post-1955 Rockland County proves the need for careful planning this time around. What kind of support will be available for small governments — which barely have the resources to make basic planning decisions now — as they hammer out “transit-oriented development” plans?

Balance

Part of the task force’s mission will be finding ways to pay for their recommendations. “This is not an easy task. You have to balance the economics with the ideal,” White Plains Mayor Tom Roach recently told staff writer Khurram Saeed.

While the state has made some commitment to mass transit — including turning extra lanes on the new bridge into dedicated busways — there’s little sign of long-term investment. Transit advocates have noted that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has no representation on the transit task force, and past Editorial Board interviews with MTA and Metro-North leaders have indicated little appetite to take a leading role in expanding transit options in the northern suburbs.

Cuomo and other leaders have sought ways to allow New York more leeway in forming public-private partnerships for infrastructure development. No doubt the transit task force will also weigh in on legislative changes that could open up alternative funding pathways for public projects.

Meanwhile, task force members are brimming with short- and long-term ideas. Veronica Vanterpool, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, wants to turn an existing traffic lane of the New York State Thruway into a high-occupancy vehicle lane, creating rapid bus service across the new span instantaneously.

Nyack Mayor Jen Laird-White, whose village sits less than a mile north of the span, sees a need to support small municipalities like hers that need to think about transit-oriented development. Vanderhoef said the panel has already demonstrated an understanding that transit needs extend beyond the I-287 corridor.

“Planning for transit within our towns and villages along the corridor will improve our economic future and strengthen the connections between our communities,” Vanderhoef told the Editorial Board. Yet it remains unclear if the task force will have the time and resources to achieve a blueprint for better, smarter (and affordable) transit infrastructure in the Lower Hudson Valley.

For everyone’s sake, let’s hope their work is thorough, and supported. After all, transit is an economic investment, not simply an expense.